Listen to Alexander Armstrong sing from his debut album, A Year of Songs

23 September 2015, 10:51 | Updated: 22 November 2016, 15:09

Our very own presenter and much-loved TV host releases his first classical album. Listen to Alexander Armstrong sing some of his favourite songs.

Alexander was a choir boy at Durham Cathedral and choral scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge – where he recorded several CDs with the choir. He was considering going on to study at the Royal College of Music, but then he met Ben Miller and turned to a career in comedy instead. As half of the Bafta winning duo Armstrong & Miller, Alexander became a household name and is now on television screens as the host of the quiz show Pointless.

Alexander Armstrong's second album, Upon a Different Shore >

Alexander Armstrong has always been passionate about singing

“I have never actually abandoned singing,” explains Alexander, “I have sung at lots of friends’ weddings and family events to keep up my classical repertoire, and I get together with a music teacher every few months.” And every Christmas, Alexander sings a carol concert with his friends Tim Rice and Kit Hesketh-Harvey.

Hear Alexander sing the traditional O Waly Waly, introduced by John Suchet:

Alexander Armstrong's debut recording as a singer includes pieces personal to him

The album, A Year of Songs, on East West Records, is a collection of pieces that are special to Alexander, including Rothbury Hills – a song from the area in which he grew up – and Londonderry Air:

“The sheet music was discovered in a church in Limavady in County Derry, where my mother’s family come from,” explained Alexander, “so we’ve always felt it was somehow ‘ours’”.

Alexander Armstrong sings 'Londonderry Air':

Other highlights of the recording include Gershwin’s Summertime, Hushabye Mountain and Stranger in Paradise.

Alexander is going to tour the UK, starting with a performance in Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall on 17 January and going on to venues including Sheffield, Bristol, London, Cardiff and Edinburgh.

And here's Alexander singing a couple more classics: